Head of Systems Engineering
Austin, TX
Aero/Mechanical – Engineering /
Full-time /
On-site
At Skyways, we are building a new form of air transportation—what some call the flying car. Backed by fresh funding and a major STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we’re uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of aviation innovation. Our fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent a breakthrough opportunity to move goods—and soon, people—in ways that are faster, safer, and more efficient than ever before. Unlike anyone else in the industry, our strategy blends rapid iteration with real-world deployment, and it’s already paying off.
Skyways is a fast-growing startup based in Austin, TX, supported by top Silicon Valley investors including Y Combinator. Though we’re early-stage, our vehicles are already in production and in the hands of paying commercial customers (see here and here). With robust financial backing and government partnerships accelerating our momentum, there’s never been a better time to join us and help build the future of transportation!
The Opportunity
As Head of Systems Engineering, you will provide strategic and technical leadership for our systems engineering organization. You’ll play a critical role in scaling our products from early-stage prototypes to full production, ensuring robust design, integration, and delivery of complex aerospace systems. This is a high-impact, highly visible leadership role with the opportunity to shape both our engineering culture and our products.
What You'll Do:
- Provide technical mentorship and leadership to a growing team of systems engineers.
- Oversee system architecture, design, integration, and verification/validation activities.
- Implement and maintain design standards and best practices across the engineering organization.
- Lead cross-functional collaboration with hardware, software, test, and product teams.
- Drive systems engineering process improvement and documentation.
- Represent the systems engineering function in technical reviews, customer meetings, and industry events.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory and certification requirements.
- Deliver on-time, high-quality system milestones and drive continuous improvement.
- Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for the systems team.Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and professional growth.
What You'll Bring:
- Proven experience scaling an aircraft or other electric/autonomous vehicle from prototype to production.
- Strong understanding of fundamental physics principles.
- Strong electrical and software engineering knowledge.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Expertise in systems engineering processes (requirements, architecture, integration, verification & validation).
- Experience with regulatory and compliance requirements.
- Proficiency with system architecture and integration.
- Experience in high power electronics design (building things that handle large amounts of power).
- Familiarity with requirements management tools (e.g., Asana).
- Software proficiency in Python and C/C++
- A collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset.
Bonus Points If You Have:
- Experience with flight test and certification processes.
- Familiarity with agile development in hardware/software environments.
Why Join Skyways?
- Impact: Take on high-impact, strategic leadership with end-to-end systems ownership.
- Team: Work with talented, growth-minded engineers and help shape our engineering culture.
- Company: Engage in cutting-edge projects within a strongly funded company with a clear growth trajectory.
Want to join our mission? Apply to learn more!
Skyways is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other factor protected by applicable local, state or federal laws.
